Light Bringer (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 2) (15 page)

Tor was fighting a laugh, and
Allison smirked a bit, and looked away, since this could lead to a fight.

Dareg however thought about it,
and understood that this woman was
really
trying to be the best mother
she could. Even if it was far too late for that kind of thing now.

"Um... Well, I need to get
off to Austra, in a few days. About two weeks? Then hit the rest of the world's
ports and make sure they have everything. I can come visit then? I..." He
shrugged, and looked at Tor, trying not to be mean to the woman. Trying
counted
,
after all. "I was setting up some schooling earlier? At the Printer
School? That won't start for six months, but I have some lessons too. Timon is
going to show me how to build, and um..." He looked around and then
directly at Tor. "What we spoke about? Oh, if this works, we need to let
Timon know. He suggested that we send Tenet for that?"

That got a big nod from the man.

"
Solid
plans."
He said it with a sly look at Alyssa, as if she hadn't thought he'd have
anything.

That got him to smile at her.

"I also have some business
ideas. Goods shipping. The people and their luggage are free, but we're setting
up a large multi-planet and space station space movement system. Putting crews
in to ship things between the places makes some sense. It might not be that
much, coin wise, but it's a start." Then all he had to do was find fifteen
other businesses, and he'd be set.

Tor, oddly, scowled at him, but
didn't say why. Instead he looked away, and seemed to be taking several deep
breaths. It wasn't the time or place, but Dare had to wonder if it was just a
bad idea. The kind of thing that would end up not making anything, and just
wasting time or effort. If so he needed to know before he did it, then. It
could
also
be that the man just thought that he should have done that
already.

Alyssa just smiled, and changed
the subject.

"Hmmm. That's better than I
figured on, I have to admit. Well, good! Still, you'll come and stay with us?
Even if it's just for a bit. I want to get to know you. We both do." There
was a glance across the room, and a smile. "People!"

They all turned to look, and
found that Tess was leading Tenet, and Taman over, along with Queen Tiera, and
Douglas Baker. Behind that, pulling up the rear, was High Servant Johan, of all
people. Honestly, that one was a shock. The last time Dare had seen him it
hadn't been certain he could survive the damage done to him. He looked all
right
now
, however.

Dressed in all white, with gold
trim. His face was serious, and he didn't wait to walk over to Tor and hug him.
It was a manly thing, with a lot of back pounding. Then he turned, and
surprised Dareg, doing the same to him.

"I thought you were both
dead. I couldn't take that. Not after the rest. Thank everything you
lived." His eyes got misty, but he didn't cry. Instead he smiled, a little
sadly. "It's been hell trying to take over for Karen and Erid. They pretty
much ran the High Servants. I knew that Karen was in charge, but I hadn't
really considered all that Erid had been doing." He was speaking directly
to Tor, who made a hard face in response.

Taman sucked in air, her face
looking horrible for a second, as she swallowed.

"I know. He always just
seemed to be working, but he did more than was visible. He never complained
about it, so very few realized it. I'm sorry for your loss." That got
murmured by everyone, including Dare.

After all, it was what you said,
even though everyone there had lost the same people. Well, he'd barely known
them, so it didn't really count, but the rest of them did.

Dareg tried to think, working out
a way to change the topic a little, to something less stressful. Hopefully.

"Say, Johan, do you know
who's been working on my ports, and what they're doing?" Technically he
should have called the man High Servant Johan, but instead of hitting him there
was a snort, and a grin.

"That's us. The High
Servants. I sent out teams to all the ports, and told them to build identical
facilities. If they don't, I'm executing them. I did the first five complainers
already. The rest fell into line pretty fast after that." He was smirking
a little, and leaned in, getting everyone else to do the same thing.
"That's just a rumor. I
haven't
had to do that. Just tell people it
took place. Sure, they think I'm a
monster
, but we can't afford to let
them do what they have been. Which is very little."

Tor nodded and then, rather high
handedly, waved the King over. The man came too, walking with his own father.
Dare made certain to bow longest and go deepest. That took some work, since
Allison worked pretty hard to go lower than he was. So did High Servant Johan,
though he was tall enough he lost immediately.

The King bowed to Tor as if they
were equals,
then
did the same with Tiera. The rest were just kind of
included in the whole thing with a bit of a flourish.

"Worthies. Ancient Torrance,
Queen Tiera." The greeting was soft, but polite. "Everyone. Thank you
for attending. I hope you're finding everything well?" There was real
concern in his eyes, as if his palace wasn't nice enough for them. Tenet
smiled, looking up only a little at the man.

"We are! So nice to meet you
again. We met once, about thirteen years ago? I was a bit shorter back then?
Tenet Baker. This is my sister Tess. Have you met Taman?"

"Only briefly. This is
wonderful, having you all here! There are many that wish to meet with you, but
we should be sitting for the meal soon. I hope I can meet with you all after
that? We have much to discuss." His eyes were only for the taller people,
plainly.

Not even Allison was being
included. The rest were however, so that was probably enough.

Almost as if there had been
eavesdropping going on, a man across the space called out. His tone was firm,
but he had on rather plain and proper black clothing.

"We will now be sitting for
the meal. If you will come this way?"

The King went first, but
surprisingly a large hand came out, tugging Dareg along in particular. With the
other hand he gathered the rest of the people with a sweeping motion.

"We'll need to be near the
front. I..." He paused when he accidently got High Servant Johan in the
mix. There was probably no way to politely tell the man to get out of his own
group of friends.

Dareg smiled and reached out to
pat the man on the back.

"To the lower end of the
table for you.
This
time. I'd like to put High Servant Johan forward as
a potential for the leadership of the High Servants. If that hasn't been filled
yet. If so, then I need to talk to whoever is in charge, since we're stealing
their people."

Instead of backhanding him for
being incredibly improper, which he
was
, King Richard smiled. It was an unrestrained
thing. One that spoke of a problem suddenly being solved.

"Ah? That seems a good idea.
I hadn't considered that yet."

Tor nodded, patting Johan too.

"Agreed. Not that what I say
on the matter is important. He's the best choice, but the decision isn't mine.
Yours either, Dareg. A bit out of place." There was no real scolding to
the words, just a blank look.

As if he expected his own son to
go into a rage over something that minor.

"Forgive me, everyone. I
spoke out of turn." He left it at that, and the King started walking as
Baldur snorted softly. It was clear he was at least a bit drunk already. Not
loudly so however.

Richard smiled however.

"I do fear, even with such a
promotion on the board, that the seating will put you rather further down the
table for the evening. No slight is intended."

"None taken. I don't know
that I'm the best person for the job however." He spoke humbly, but his
fighter's body and the calluses on his hands gave a different statement.

It said that he was used to
working hard. Plus, he'd clearly taken over already anyway. Dareg shook his
head slightly, but didn't speak, having already messed that one up.

The seating was a lot different
than he would have figured, since all of the Ancients that had lands were above
the mere royalty, except the King and Queen, since it was their table. The
thing there was that he was placed next to Karina, his date for the night, who
was not only a princess of Noram, but the Ancient of Mars. In short, the ruler
of a planet. One with nothing on it yet, but still right next to her brother.
Taman was next to Dare, with her father next to her, looking
far
too
close to her age for that to make sense to most. Tor was right next to the
Queen's hand on the other side, with Alyssa next to him, a few places down. It
was a bit of a mess, since the protocols meant that two women were next to each
other in places, and the same with men. Normally that wouldn't happen, but no
one complained about it, and further down the table that got fixed.

Queen Constance looked edgy, and
kept glancing at Tor, who seemed relaxed about that. It was a formal meal, so
there was a lot of standing, checking food for poison, and enough courses that
even with tiny portions he figured there would be plenty to eat.

Dareg had to focus, to start
with, trying to make certain he did everything correctly. After the first
course, which was done in near silence on his part, Karina nudged him gently.

"And you said you didn't
have good table manners? Nearly perfect." There was a hint of teasing to
the words, so he smiled, and leaned toward her slightly, and whispered back.

"It's true. I see my clever
faking here is working then?"

"Yes. I wouldn't have known
you hadn't been raised doing this kind of thing."

Then a bit louder, she spoke
again.

"I'm looking forward to the
trip in a few days. When are we leaving?"

That got him to smile, and he
looked around a bit, to see that everyone was listening suddenly.

"Tomorrow, at about seven in
the evening? I was thinking that we should go from Austra to Mars first? I was
considering setting up a small city there, if you want? I don't know how to do
that, but something like Harmony? Just so we have a place to live there, for
one of the houses." It made sense to him, but he knew it was probably out
of turn to say that at the table. She nodded, her eyes going a bit wide.

"I had been considering
that. So a place there, and one here? For vacations?"

"That was my thinking. Here,
Mars and on the Martian Circle. We might not need that though. Not with a city
on the planet." It was big talk, but several of the others were nodding at
them.

Taman leaned forward, so that she
could look at Karina.

"I can get you the needed
radiation shields. I've been working on the concept lately anyway. I think I
can fix Soam now, as well. The level of radiation is about the same in both
places, so it would be a good test. Tor, you can work out an underground city?
You must have something for that."

There was a slow nod, and a
glance at Alyssa for some reason, along with a smile.

"Ali? You have that, don't
you? It's designed for the next lunar city, but the whole thing is incredible.
It should work anywhere. Really, you might want to build a palace here that
way, too. It isn't as fluid as a magical palace, but the permanence is much greater.
Magic fades, but things built from it can last for a very long time." His
tone was a bit preachy, but the idea wasn't wrong.

Dare nodded as Alyssa seemed
bright and happy.

"Yes! I can get you a city
amulet and go over how to use it. It doesn't make air, or water, but the
infrastructure is set up for most of that. We can do it. When are you planning
to put that together? For that matter, when is the wedding?" She looked at
Karina, not him, for some reason.

It took him a bit to realize she
was teasing the princess rather improperly. They exchanged a look that got him
to blink. He'd never thought about it before, but these two were close.
Friends, at the very least. That they'd know one another made sense, Harmony
not being that big of a place, and knowing people in common, but
this
seemed closer than that.

Queen Constance answered however,
her face cheerful, and a bit reserved.

"We were thinking of doing
it this winter? Sooner would be rushing." She glanced at her own daughter,
and seemed apologetic. Karina giggled in response.

"I've been pushing things
up, but mother fears that if we don't wait at least six months everyone will
think we
have
to get married. I just don't see a need to wait at this
point. The date is fine, however." She nudged him, as if letting him know
that he had some say in the matter.

Which he
did
. Dareg could
back out at any time. There was no real need to however. Karina seemed pretty
nice, and was better looking than average. A bit tall, but that wouldn't be a
problem after a while, apparently.